Free Software Foundation Europe

This year, FSFE celebrated its 15th birthday. 15 years of empowering users, supporting communities and pushing for better legislation. 15 years to see that all activities, even if considered small at the time, can become big when we work together. 15 years to see that all activities, even if considered impossible at the time, can succeed when we stand together. Together, we sometimes succeeded even against the heaviest lobbying of large interest groups. 15 years to know that all of this would not have been possible without the continuous support of our community, contributing thousands of hours of their work time and backing us financially. Help us now to grow bigger and make a difference in 2017.

Since the start of the FSFE 15 years ago, the people involved were certain that companies are a crucial part to reach our goal of software freedom. For many years we have explained to companies – IT as well as non-IT – what benefits they have from Free Software. We encourage individuals and companies to pay for Free Software, as much as we encourage companies to use Free Software in their offers. While more people demanded Free Software, we also saw more companies claiming something is Free Software or Open Source Software although it is not.

This month the FSFE newsletter comes with a public consultation on our Fellowship brand. Read the background and do not miss your chance to participate. Also read about the take-over of FSFE's Vice-presidency by Heiki Löhmus and the ongoing revision of the European Interoperability Framework. As in every newsletter, you also find our out-of-the-community as well as a what-we-have-done section with some good Free Software news and highlights of our press coverage.

Last weekend, the FSFE visited Oberhausen to participate in
OpenRheinRuhr, a well-known Free Software event in north-western
Germany. We had a strong booth team, gave talks, and enjoyed
talking to tons of like-minded people about politics, technology
and other stuff. In this blog post you will learn about some
highlights of the weekend and what coat hangers have to do with
flat irons.

First official meeting of the Milan group. We will brainstorm and put on the table(pad) all possible activities and ideas. Somehow we will come out with some concrete objective and strategy. The meeting stat at: 7PM in Boba, Via Rosolino Pilo 9.

From December 27 to 30, FSFE will host an assembly during the 33rd Chaos Communication Congress in that we offer a common space to discuss, meet, hack and organise. There will also be several self-organized sessions every day about various aspects of or around Free Software. More details are coming soon. So long and until November 20, make sure to check our call for participation.